Confessions of a grey-headed reporter

Category Archives: NATAS

Some of my best and worst ideas come while running, which is something I do for exercise most mornings. Typically the brainstorms come during mile four and five. Many of the posts on this site are direct results of these moments, as well as moments parked alongside a glass of high-octane beer.

One materialized after I actually read a mass e-mail from NATAS. This is the organization best known for providing Emmys, and its spelled-backward acronym. The e-mail suggested running for the board of Governors of this organization. During mile four recently, a voice whispered: Run. You can “give back.” Plus it might give you material for the blog.

Since I have no real clue what the Board of Governors does for NATAS, I was unsure. I wrote an e-mail to the current president, who urged me to submit a 50 – 100 word narrative outlining my relevant experience. (My word count on this post, so far, is 143.)

This week, I got an e-mail urging me to vote in the NATAS election. Within it, there’s a list of ten nominees. I’m one of them.

"Front Porch" Bill McKinley

So, apparently I’m running for the NATAS board of Governors.

In one blog post, here’s my campaign, a new-media version of William McKinley’s front porch campaign, minus the impending fatal brush with an anarchist in Buffalo hopefully. I’m the proud owner of three McKinley buttons. That’s one reason why you should vote for me.

Another is: There are certain unsung behind-the-scenes folk in the Atlanta TV news biz who deserve consideration in this NATAS Silver Circle thing. Because I may be asked to actually vote on such stuff, if elected, I won’t give up those names now. I’m playing the Sotomayor / Kagan / Thomas / Frankfurter cards. You’ll find out after it’s too late. Vote for me.

Plus, if it’s interesting enough, I’ll blog about it. Given my history, the “interesting” threshold is pretty low. If the board has a pulse, I’ll probably write about it. This could be instructive, for NATAS and for LAF readers. I can’t say with certainly which of those groups would actually benefit, however, from such exposure. If any. Vote for me.

The NATAS Board allows members to vote for as many as eight “hard-working talented and accomplished individuals willing to dedicate time and energy to the success of the Southeast Chapter.” If you’re a member, you got a link and a password in an e-mail this week. You may select as few as one. These are the nominees.

Felix "The Cat" Frankfurter

Lee Brown

Karyn Greer

Ray Goodrich

Myrna Moore

Thom Murrell

Lisa Rayam

Doug Richards

Laurel Ripley

Tom Regan

Bill Sykes

For your convenience, I’ve entered in bold type the names of nominees with whom I feel an effective coalition government could be formed. Or a cabal. Or a junta. We’ll see which, if any, apply. Vote for us.

My risk, of course, is this: I’ll wage this one-post campaign, then end up ranking number nine or ten in the vote total. This would be a crushing, devastating embarrassment.

If the results never get posted in this spot, you may surmise the worst. Vote for me. Thank you.